Caveat
by Sixth Limb of Sephiroth
Summary: Not every woman's a catch, Raven.


**Give the Man What He Wants**

**Insert disclaimer here**

**_From Sixth: _**_Posting. And I have no regrets! Until later... So, this is me trying to write Raven, giving him a test spin if you will. I'm rusty. I haven't "written" for months. If my characterization doesn't agree with some of you folks, tough balls. We can't all be as great as you with writing characters that aren't yours to begin with anyways, mmmkay? For everyone else who might drop by to read or even skim or whatever, well... thank you for your time. ILU even if you might hate me and the way I write. Each hit is proof of my authorial existence, for the time being. im in ur interwebz, tuchin ur lyvez ***heart***_

* * *

"_Heh heh. So what's your dream, Raven?"_

_"Me? To be stinking rich with bevies of gorgeous ladies all around me, mmmm… I'm kidding. Now… Hmm… I'm finally back to just living. So I guess my dream is to be able to dream again someday."_

* * *

"Hey, why don't you drop by the Sagittarius? Been missin' your big dumb face!"

"Hardy har har."

"I mean it. You're always ready to go when I come in. I can't do this-"

"OW!"

The Den of Guilds was a sprawling, bustling place, forever draped in the reddest dusk. As the center of guild activity the world over, the ever-industrious city of Dahngrest, a bastion of autonomy, was paved with rough-hewn allure and adventure. Free range individuals were born and bred every day. Factions rose and fell; they celebrated forged alliances and called rivals with vicious battle cries—of course, the Union, general overseer of the peace maintained that no blood be shed upon a single stone within city limits. No; one would say take it to the Coliseum of old Nordopolica and fight it out there in blood, sweat and tears; another would cry fly away to the farthest reaches of Terca Lumireis and settle one's differences where none others might interrupt.

Life and law of the guilds were absolute.

It wasn't a dream existence, but it was certainly a start, more than a start. The law of the guild was a happy medium. And it was leagues better than what he'd previously pledged his heart to. Although, damn it all, Raven couldn't completely leave that behind, either. Old lives and responsibilities died hard. So long as witnesses to the past remained.

But did that matter so much now?

"Now, this here looks like one fine wine," Raven said, browsing the wares of one street vendor, a Fortune's Market veteran decked out in sequined threads. He'd turned to occupy himself with it after his run in with one of the barmaids from the Sagittarius, one of his and the Don's homes away from home. His cheeks were still flushed from the surprise pinch they'd been given before she ran off westward.

Now he found himself actually intrigued by the wines. Although he preferred spirits a little more down to earth.

"This is from my most cherished collection, squeezed from famed Eastern Yurzorean grapes and properly aged for the _finest _aroma and flavor," the merchant remarked, meanwhile perched on a rug beside his merchandise. He lifted a heavy glass urn into his customer's hands, smiling and nodding brightly between the jolly crags of his face beneath an overlarge turban. "I sell every so often when overstocking occurs. I even offer my wines at an eight percent discount. That is quite a steal."

"A steal eh?" Raven turned the corked urn over and over in his hands. It had a good bit of weight to it, and he could almost catch the faintest hint of its bouquet permeating the cork.

"Please, buy one, to share with your honey on those extra warm Dahngrest nights."

"Well, when ya put it like that." Raven reached for his wallet, rifling between coins for a few thousand gald notes. "Wonder what Judy-baby is doing about now. A bit of this and maybe she'd… Heh heh. So, how's the price tag lookin' on this thing?"

"A low, low price of seventy-three thousand gald," the merchant replied with a beam for a smile.

"Oh, whoops, I think I… I cried a minute there." He slowly drew his wallet closed and chuckled. Though he had more than enough gald squirreled away for occasions not unlike this, Raven saw little point in buying something so obscenely expensive that would only last a night, maybe two if he were lucky. He wasn't a noble and did well to dissociate himself from that loaded label. There were ways far better than how the nobility wasted its riches. "I think I hear my mom calling—Coming, Mother!"

"Allow me that."

A slender arm glided past Raven and took the bottle of wine he'd been poring over prior to the blunt trauma its cost incurred. Just as quickly as the arm withdrew did it offer back a wad of gald notes, of which even the merchant was surprised to receive. Gaping in awe than dismay, Raven turned to see who this supposed wine aficionado happened to be.

"… hel-loooooo," he drawled, stepping back.

Next to him stood a woman as she cradled her newly acquired purchase. She was obscenely white from head to toe, robed and trimmed in gold and green, all while smiling eerily from ear to ear. He'd never seen such a character, at least not outside a place like Zaphias or Heliord, to name a few. She had to be a noble, one so displaced as to cause a rift in Dahngrest's fabric of time and space. She looked fancy even for one of Imperial birth, the most glaring detail about her being the masculine cut of her hair and clothes. A feathery bob, creased trousers, boots, gloves, all in a fashion cut squarely for men. Still, she was a looker in the face, at least, and he wondered how well she might give Judith a run for her money.

"Now, if she weren't from the snobbish lot..." Raven muttered to himself.

"Excuse me. Did you say something?" the noblewoman asked. It might have been his ears playing sweet tricks on him but her voice had a weird dulcet tone that could have coaxed him right out of his pants. Not sharp and blunt as the Krityan's way of speaking, but gentle, almost spuriously so. Oh, if she weren't a noble. Raven couldn't let it slide that easily. Or was he being a mite prejudiced before he got to know the woman?

Just a bit.

"Ah, not a thing," he piped up after a while. "So, what's a fair lady like yerself doin' in a place like this? Didn't think Dahngrest was a tourist hotspot fer people like you."

"People like… me. Oh the presumption."

Raven's jaw fell slack for a second before he shook it all off with a laugh and a nod. She seemed shy of outright snappiness, like a certain genius mage. Such was commonplace for nobility, who looked down on those they thought less fortunate than themselves. This on the other hand was a bit different. "So. Dearie, what's yer name, yer house and station if ya got one? Yeah, I know a lil bit about nobledom."

"My name is El."

"El what? Like the let-"

"I suppose you could call me an… upstart," she interjected. "The house of El. That sounds nice, would you not agree?"

"A perfect discotheque," Raven chirped. "_Just_ El, though? Huh. Kinda… kooky, but whatever floats your boat. Now, _what_ are ya doin' here?"

"Traveling, dear sir. Can I not travel?"

"No escort, entourage, troupe, posse, whatever ya wanna call it? Pretty bold but strange ta travel alone."

"I can fend for myself."

"Well, if'n ya'd like, I'd be glad to champion yer nobleness about town fer a bit."

The woman turned to face Raven in full. Her lazier-than-his half-lidded eyes had opened all too slightly, revealing vivid green irises glinting of something he had trouble placing. Her brief silence set him on edge; any common Imperial noble would have seen fit to voice their discomfort of the situation at the drop of a hat, each and every complaint spilling over like the most unworthy of wine. But she, so simply called El, made no real effort to shun Raven for his slovenly appearance, even the whole of gritty Dahngrest. At least, not yet.

Who was she?

"You would keep me company, sir?" she asked eventually.

"Why, sure I-"

"I might like that."

"… wha?" Raven stammered at her simple reply. She accepted his company, just like that? Inconceivable. He had to have been dreaming, or she was yanking his chain as most highborn were accustomed to doing; not that he wasn't a catch or anything, but she was a noble, and he, a guild servant. They were from two different worlds. Even so, he started to back away. "Actually, I mighta spoke too soon, I think I got a thing, a guild thing and uh-"

"You approach and then retract? How curious of you. Why show interest only to brush it away? Unless you mean to toy with one's heart. Why not do unto others' as you would have done unto yours?"

Raven ghosted a hand over his chest. His blastia hummed its usual quiet song of life into his fingers as they passed it by. He could have laughed; maybe it was that he didn't have a heart, not anymore. _Oh get over it. You always had one in spirit and you always acted the same way, ya idiot. _He shrugged and lifted his hands up behind his head. With a few taps of the foot, he remarked, "Well, it's not like I haveta explain myself t'ya but it's… just how I roll. I reel 'em in then let 'em go. It's a game, I guess."

"A game. Until… you land that legendary catch? Are all men and women but fish to you?"

"Women— and certainly not, but… Well, like I said, I don't haveta explain myself. As long as I get it, that's all I need, fair lady."

"Hmm. We should do something about that. Hmhm. I think it is time this man gets what he wants."

"Eh? Now, waitaminute…"

El's eyes opened wide. Her irises seemed to spin like gold-rimmed discs inside her salt-white face. And it mesmerized Raven in such a way that he'd forgotten what he wanted to say next. What was it with this lady? This had to be the only time in his life where it might have been wise to leave well enough alone with a member of the fairer, curvier opposite sex. He knew a lot of them were utter bats out of hell, but this one took the cake without even trying. Who was she to assert judgment over him so fast? Just like a noble.

She raised a black gloved hand to Raven's chest and let it hover there.

"Is that fear I see and smell? Is this but a boy that stands before me? Shame, shame, I nearly thought you otherwise." She clucked her tongue.

More than a little annoyed, Raven brushed the noblewoman's hand away. The desire was suddenly strong to prove her wrong. His manliness was on the line. Or, it wasn't actually on the line but he was tempted to save face. Yet, he hardly knew her. He had no more reason to prove himself to a stranger than he did to get down on all fours and serve as her personal footstool. That wouldn't necessarily stop him from making just enough moves that he'd show her he meant business, manly business. All without getting in too deep.

"Lady," he began, his brow knit loosely with seriousness, "I know what you're gettin' at, believe you me. Two can play that game. Meet me at the Crimson Stars—right over there—at sundown. I think it's time yer treated to what the Great Raven is _really_ made of."

"I shall bring the wine."

"You… you do that."

* * *

Was he an idiot or something?

For the umpteenth time, Rita might have been right about him.

The foreigner El had come to the designated tavern, earlier than he would have liked. He found her seated at a table closest to the unmanned piano against the far wall. Several drinks sat before her, although the wine she'd purchased from under him was curiously left untouched. It might've been all a part of some ulterior motive that one could only guess.

The telltale odors of alcohol and sweat and a good many other things formed a nice heady air to get lost in. But many eyes seemed to be trained on her when Raven entered the scene, pried from the tavern ambiance. Those clothes stuck out like a sore thumb amongst people who disowned everything about the Empire, including its class and caste system which dictated how one dressed, acted, and lived based upon wealth.

Why no one had yet openly attacked her was beyond him, other than guildsmen actually being anything but the barbarians they were made out to be.

At the sight of him, the noblewoman lifted a dainty hand to flag him down.

With that, everyone this side of Dahngrest would soon know that Raven was meeting with a bourgeois female, all before dawn the next day. No man, woman, or child was exempt from the monster known as gossip in these parts. Regardless, Raven took a deep breath, stepped from the threshold and strolled on over to where El sat. As he drew nearer, he gleaned an almost come-hither smile in her strange eyes, thereby unsettling him well before any alcohol managed to soak his gullet. It was weird. She looked far from dangerous, other than the risk of a rapier wit. And that was assuming a bit much this early in the game.

No, there was just something about her. She was just wacky. Off.

_Was_ he an idiot? To come here, to go through with this encounter, however it might end?

Raven took a seat and gave his company a good, hard stare. She'd only smiled in return.

"I eagerly await your most… manly conquest over me," she said, lifting a glass. "Or, your attempt to do so, sir."

"Baby, you ain't seen nothin' yet," he challenged, quirking an eyebrow. "I actually got someplace in mind. But~ How's about we get the ball rollin' with a couple o' icebreakers?"

"Icebreakers," the noblewoman echoed thoughtfully. She smiled again, staring blankly ahead before piping up, "Is that a drink?"

Raven sputtered. He would have thought her a touch worldlier. Of course he couldn't recall where she might have ever professed such, seeing as how they'd only just met. Silly him for making assumptions yet again. "No, no, it means… let's get to know each other a bit. I'll start. The name's Raven, or the Great Raven to my fans above and around the world. I'm a high rankin' official around here. Impressed yet? Well, I also dabble in affairs fer the Empire. Folks just can't get enough of me. As for my physical dimensions-"

He paused and looked over at El. Her quiet attentiveness— still with that damned smile— looked unshakable. Raven knew he was interesting when he tried, but this lady gave off the impression that she was actually hanging on to his every word, with neither a grimace nor a smirk. Only plain interest.

It unnerved him. What were these feelings surrounding him? And why did he continue playing into this?

"Er." Raven cleared his throat and sat back. "How about you? Safe to assume yer from Zaphias? Or maybe Heliord?"

"Zaphias, yes," she chirped back.

"Ya don't look too familiar…"

"You are an extensive cataloger of the Imperial nobility?"

"Well, not exactly-"

"Hmm. Well, if you must know, my years spent as a noble had not been in the capital but rather far to its east. In the mountains. I have a most wonderful view of Corridor Beach."

"Wait, _outside_ of Zaphias?"

El nodded, sipped her liqueur tentatively, and fingered her mug up and down after setting it aside. "As much of a wonder Zaphias proves, the hustle and bustle often strikes me as overwhelming. So I make my home away from it all to stem such… stimuli."

"Heh." Raven meditated for a bit. Something wasn't adding up. Few within their right mind didn't make it a habit to establish homes beyond the safety of a barrier. Back when they were still functional, of course—a number of people were working on substitutes even as they spoke, Rita among them with her theories of spirits and mana. But any fool was privy to monsters. They were as prevalent a force as nature itself. A common, and one might even say essential, plague. They _were _nature.

It could've been all a lie. Maybe this woman was a bandit and a pretty good actor who'd slain and stolen some poor snob's life, took it as her own. A crime of jealousy and passion and-

Raven let his mind run away at high speed. Some grappling here, a little torn clothing there, maybe a brief realization of one's crime in progress and a moment taken to caress and hold and… At least he was being realistic about it.

"You wax doubt," El remarked.

"Naw," Raven uttered with a shrug while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well. Just a little. Sounds kinda too good to be true, y'know? The nobility isn't known for independence. They need the Empire as much as the Empire needs them— and their money. You, on the other hand're so far removed, you might as well not be an Imperial at all."

The noblewoman clapped her gloved hands together as if to applaud some trite little show.

"My, my, despite that dull look in your pretty— _pretty_— eyes, you are fairly sharp. Alas, you are still a ways off the mark. Can I not have a bit of solitude?" she queried, weaving her fingers together and resting them against the table's edge.

"Well, if yer really a noble, you can have a bit of everything," Raven said, bursting with a quick laugh. "I mean, that's what yer money's for."

"That is what money is for, yes."

"R, right… But I was jus' sayin' how weird it is that a noble live outside the safest part of the Empire. It's like ya had a death wish or somethin'."

"Like I have said, I can fend for myself. Like you have said, if I am a noble, I can have a bit of everything. What could have stopped me from commissioning a small-scale barrier of sorts, just for me? I wonder. Hmm. I suspect nothing at all, hmhmhm."

"Got some sense after all, barrin' the fact barrier blastia's neither a common nor luxury commodity, my lady. Try again."

The woman seemed fairly smart but shady all the same. Raven found his interest in her piqued unusually high. She gave off little to no hint of corruption so far for first impressions, a neutral respect for her fellow man and perhaps even a passing attraction to the man before her. Now, if she cooked like Judith, he might have a new crush on his hands. A rebound, at the least, if the lovely Krityan weren't so piping hot and burning cold as to be off limits.

"Am I doing well for these icebreakers?" El asked, blinking curiously as a child might.

"Well, gotta admit I'm a lil' hooked," Raven tossed back. "Yer not like any noble I've ever come across. Yer eyes— weird as they are— aren't all caked over with the glitz and glam of yer status. That earns a plus in my book."

"But you, sir," the noblewoman began, scooting her chair closer to his side, "what about you? Where are your plusses with which you have yet to woo me? Where is this 'Great Raven' that simply must show me what I have been missing?" Beneath the table, her hand crept up and firmly grasped his knee then shifted inwards until it was halfway along his thigh. Raven jumped and audibly knocked his knees together, but quickly composed himself when he remembered that eyes were still on him.

"Whoa, you move kinda fast there, don'tcha?"

"Where is this _someplace_ that you had in mind? For us?" she pressed, with both question and fingertips into flesh and fabric. Raven jiggled his leg to loosen the grip on him.

"Well, I was thinking upstairs, but now-"

"Lead the way, then, kind stranger."

Kind stranger. Would this woman be any more insistent on intimacy with a character who was any more unsavory than he? Not that Raven thought he was unsavory; on the contrary, there bred no doubt in his mind that he was quite the suave and debonair devil few women could resist. Or not. Still. Perhaps all she was looking for was a good time?

* * *

Serious business.

When she made to close the door, he knew she meant it. He should have expected as much—he DID expect as much—but wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. It seemed in the end that that wasn't the wisest choice ever. Or… maybe it was?

El walked up to Raven, laying a hand on him as she'd nearly done before; it was by no means intimate, but curious. The noblewoman was sizing him up. It was then, however, that he noticed something. They were the same height. Or, she might have even been an inch or two taller. He wasn't keen on taller women. Judith was the only exception. So far, anyways.

"So… you chase 'skirts' but will not settle? This is most curious, sir. The desire in you feels oh so strong, yet you would be a boy about it? Hm."

"Hey, hey, enough with this 'boy' business. I'm a hundred percent man," Raven declared, thumping a fist on his chest. "Manly musk? I've got it. That indescribable spark? I could start a fire just standing here. Am I lucky? Nah, this— all o' this, heh— is skill, kitten. Honed and sharpened to perfection. What d'ya think o' that?"

"Only words," she shot back dully. "What I seek are actions, which speak all the louder."

"A-actions, huh? Ahem, well, alright, no problem. The Great Raven will, will sweep you off your… lovely feet." Raven's eyes drifted down El's long legs to her feet, which were clad in lacquered black leather. A rare rhino's hide, if he had it right. Those boots alone attested to what wealth she had, stolen or not. But this was a poor distraction. Now, it became a matter of how to accomplish said actions without going too far. He fumbled at nothing particular, fretting over how things could possibly get any more awkward. He wasn't about to prove this lady right about him but… "Er, damn it."

"Hmhm, so you are a boy. Plain and simple."

"Don't go mockin' the old_ man _just because he's havin' ONE moment o' weakness. Cut me some slack. I've met a lotta ladies but none like… you." He shrugged and sighed. That felt good to admit, but he wasn't out of the woods just yet.

No, this sly female decided to light those woods on fire, trapping him well within the inferno.

"Let us give you what you want," she said, pushing him backwards.

"Wh-what do I want?" he asked with a clear but nervous hint of ignorance. Playing the fool had an effect of turning off some women. He wished for smashing success on the not-so-little lady here.

"If nothing else," she uttered, smoothing a hand against him, "you want to fill that little hole in your chest. Or simply… fill some sort of hole. With something, anything, heh. But you quit when you are so, so close. You are not satisfied with all that you are presented in the now. You may have a cause to devote yourself to, but do you have a pleasure? A _real_, concrete pleasure? Let me do you a favor."

The woman's eyes started to spin yet again, catching Raven in their thrall no matter how much he wanted to look away. The lady was downright forceful. A kind decline of her time would have done it, no hassle needed for a dame with more than a passing interest—and oh, this might have been passing, too, but at the same time so powerful one would think it was arranged fornication under the Empire's consent.

"Whoa mama…"

El had single-handedly unbuttoned her surcoat and unfastened the frilly dress shirt and cravat she wore underneath, baring a fairly breasty valley of skin. How did a woman ever get this white? It was nearly blinding. She looked as if made of milk with but a hint of pink to those… those…

Raven's face flushed madly and his eyes threatened to roll up into the back of his head. She was no Judith, not at all, but that didn't stop her from being a contender.

"G, gettin' ahead of ourselves, eh? Heh… heh."

"I say this is right where you want to be." El slipped out of her trousers and boots with ease, revealing hips hugged by deceptively simple, lacy underwear. She moved to press her body into Raven's, maintaining a deep look into his lazy gray-blue eyes. "Does this not feel nice?"

"Yeah… I mean no! Your warm squishiness doesn't feel good at all!" Raven grabbed the woman by the shoulders and started to push her away. She neither resisted nor allowed herself to be drawn away too willingly. At that point, her shirt had fallen away for a fuller view of her milky breast. That El would show so little effort in so much seduction boggled his mind. She wanted in his pants yet neglected to actually work at it other than unfasten a few buttons and clasps.

"Now, now, dear sir," she hummed in that eternal melody, "I will take good care of you. This is not an everyday opportunity, even for you, 'the player', I am sure."

"I uh…"

The noblewoman directed Raven back onto the bed, toppling him easily. She lowered herself onto his waist, slowly, carefully, settled there with her hands on her hips and studied the stammering figure of which she straddled intently. She then reached for the buttons of his shirt and opened them one by one. But it wasn't long after the second button removed that Raven caught El's wrist in her advance.

"Wait," he exclaimed. "I've got a thing. I gotta keep dressed, you'll get grossed out, I'm a leper— yeah, that's it, I'm a leper!"

"Such a rugged and handsome man does not wish to awe and astound me with his physique? You stun me."

"Ya flatter me, but it's the truth. I'm quite the sick puppy—" Raven hacked and coughed violently into one hand, then smiled weakly as if that would clinch the fact.

"My, you are _adorable_. Yet you fail to fool me. Off it all goes."

He was letting this happen and he had no idea why. At first, the answer escaped him. Or he escaped it. In the end, the lady was right. Perhaps he was waiting to get caught, just like this. Waiting for a certain woman to charge in and attend his favorite want and need. Maybe this was right, after all. And maybe, maybe she wouldn't mind that Raven was just a bit of a freak of nature with a blastia for a heart.

With his chest bared, he exhaled as if relieved.

"So… is this the reason for your hesitancy?" she'd asked, touching a few fingers to the faintly pulsing rock in his chest. Raven closed his eyes and shrugged.

"Could be. Disgusted?"

"Curious. Is this… a blastia? I had thought them all discarded. Since the catastrophe."

"I guess I'm special."

"Special." El's fingers trailed away from his blastia, and lower, a controlled motion that threatened to cull a rise out of Raven. Although he tried to hide it. A lady's touch was a lady's touch, and he'd be damned if he didn't enjoy it deep down.

"So, what're ya gonna doooo—" he trailed off in a high-pitched crescendo, his body tensed and stretched thin.

The noblewoman had unfairly grabbed a handful of Raven's crotch through his pants and drove her fingertips in to stir a mix of pleasure and pain. His heart let out a great flicker of light which drew a sound of awe from El.

"Well, you are certainly not a boy in this regard. I commend your parents on coupling your genes most successfully for all the… right traits. Relax, sir, relax, for you are in capable hands," she cooed, leaning over to flatten herself against the full length of Raven's body. "Happy thoughts, think them."

El's cool bared hands seemed to rise from out of nowhere and slip into secret places Raven couldn't remember having. Or, it might have just been years and years since he'd allowed a woman to get this far with him, or farther, that he'd genuinely forgotten they existed.

And he didn't want it to stop, when came the wine and the rocking, sweet memories of yesteryear.

* * *

.o.

* * *

Morning.

A hell of a morning.

Raven woke with a start, the ceiling coming into hazy, erratic focus. His body ached as though he were just getting over the worst hangover he'd had in months, or someone had laid him under a smooth hail of rocks.

"Oh, right, the wine," he whispered soundlessly. "An'…"

He ran a free hand through his hair which had gotten free from his trademark bushy ponytail; he felt like a total mess.

Right. That woman.

"Shit," he cursed quietly. That woman.

Her form lay molded to his left, an arm crooked over his heart. But… did she feel a little heavier than the evening before? Was it only the fact that a body practically became dead weight in its slumber? It was still a bit much, though he couldn't tell it to her face. Women had some pretty ridiculous complexes when it came to weight. Even so, something was up. Raven struggled to sit upright and reached under the sheets—yup, naked alright. And a bit of the morning glory, too, he noted out of chagrin.

The night had been a blur, nigh a complete and total blank. The only thing he was clear about? That noblewoman's persistence and… energy. Borderline inhuman.

"Awake, are you?" said a voice.

A man's voice.

A man's voice that wasn't his own. Raven's body seized up in realization then confusion. Did they have a threesome without his knowing? And with another man, no less? The thought clogged his throat with bile.

"Ah… gah… huh?"

The noblewoman started to rise alongside him in muted slow motion, but distinctly missing a few things Raven was sure she'd had the night before. Some breasts being a couple of them. The other… he just couldn't put into words.

So instead, Raven slid slowly out of bed and onto the floor, his mouth hanging in shock. He clutched his blastia tight as if it might slip out of his chest and go dark for the first and final time.

"What is the matter?"

"Y-you… y, you're a he!"

"Hm? Oh." The lady— man? thing?—looked down into her, his, or its lap and chuckled with a slight heave of the shoulders. He— or she—touched itself as though to confirm what was lying between those thighs. Those thighs that Raven had once thought looked so milky smooth and welcoming, but now, now they were something else entirely. "My apologies. Does this bother you?"

"'Does this bother you?'" Raven mocked back. "What the hell! What the hell are you? You were supposed to be a woman! Oh man, did somebody cast a spell on me? Did I get cursed? Just my luck. Is this a nightmare? Are you tryin' ta kill me? How many times do I gotta die before you guys leave me-"

"Calm yourself," El said, in that same melodic voice, except now the voice was male, wholly male. "I repeat: My apologies. I did not think I would slip back into this shape overnight. You must have proven your manhood well enough that I would fall this relaxed. Hmm, good job, sir Raven."

"Waitwaitwait, 'slip back'? You were a man to begin with? I need some sorta lava bath, some skin peels, some colon cleansing, some-"

"Be still yourself. I am neither, or… I am both," the creature explained, though it might have been more a question than a statement at the end.

"Ya can't be, ya can't be human," Raven spat, inching himself farther from the bed. "That's not natural, being both or, or, neither. It ain't natural."

"Not so worldly, are you? And yet you could possibly be a mite… astute."

Raven slapped a hand over his groin to keep the white-haired thing from getting any more of an eyeful. A waste of energy, considering where he'd stuck it not long ago. Eyes weren't so intimate as hands and various orifices, but the act of hiding made him feel a little less exposed. Meanwhile struggling to wrap his mind around this entire debacle, he stuttered out, "Just what are ya, then? C'mon, gimme an answer, now."

"My, are you genuinely mortified? I am disappointed, Damuron Atomais. Or should I say Schwann Oltorain?"

Raven's blood froze.

"H-how… do you know those names?"

"Damuron was a hero in the Great War. The boy died for his people as most heroes should; and Schwann rose from that carcass to carry on his legacy as an Imperial Knight exemplar."

Pause filled the air.

"Such a life you owed to Commandant Alexei Dinoia and my beloved Khroma."

"Khroma?" Raven echoed. "The... Entelexeia? Your 'beloved'? Wait… Waaaaaaait. Are, are you… an Entelexeia? I slept with a mons-"

"I ill advise such wording…"

The creature, once posing as a noblewoman, now a man, but really, _truly_ an Entelexeia, or what could be an Entelexeia, slunk off the bed onto its hands and knees. El advanced upon Raven in a slow and calculated crawl, reaching a hand out and up along the inside of his leg. The contact of such cool skin sent a shiver through to his core and up the nape of his neck, now that he had an understanding of the thing before him.

Which was nothing short of terror.

"Yes, I am what I am and, thanks to you, the last of all too few. I know of your exploits with my kind, robbing us of our livelihoods for man's own insignificant sake. That even my most cherished sister would deign to surrender her life and leave me alone is… Oh, I know _all_ about you."

Raven tensed as El drew even closer; anymore and it would have been in his lap. He couldn't even fathom the thought of certain similar parts touching again, if at all. "S, so what? This was a setup? You here, here for revenge? There'd be no point, y'know? Y'know. We all agreed to make sacrifices, to save the world, right? I ain't to blame, so… so don't kill me?"

"I should be furious," it uttered, just centimeters from Raven's face. Its expression hadn't changed from the tender indifference sported since waking, which made its next words all the more chilling. "I have you cornered; I could rend you limb. From. Limb. And yet, as I was with my sister, so too am I enamored of the human race. I could not truly damage this succulent skin of yours. And I could not forsake this shape simply because you have effectively ended an age old race."

"So… what're we doing here? You just wanted to torture me? You, you drew me in with your magic and, and now you're gonna make me pay?"

"I have pleasured you, which is far from torture. Be grateful that I would stoop to satisfy your lowly being. I admire and detest you. I adore your shape and despise your nature as a human. You spin me in circles, and rather than become as what my brothers and sisters have become, I would stay as I am and carouse in man's form forever more, so long as I breathe aer and air."

Raven found himself despicably charmed by the creature's words and swirling discs for eyes. He was so charmed that he nearly missed El closing in on his mouth with its lips. He jerked back in time to see it kiss the air then shake its head in disappointment.

"Hooold on, just because I listened to your sob story doesn't give ya the go-ahead to keep comin' onta me. I like human women. WOMEN. Entelexeia just ain't my cup of tea..."

"You had little problem last night, now did you not, sir Raven? I can have the shapes, the curves, the comforts of any woman. Is that not what you wanted? Another body to keep you warm? I can spare a bit more of time to play with you. Since this dance of the flesh is but a game? Hmhmhm…"

"Wow, tables turned, eh? Now I'm somebody else's plaything? Their… tool? Again? This, this is nice." Raven sighed in defeat. He stared through the man-shaped thing in front of him, wondering. This wasn't the break he wanted. "What… what d'ya look like?"

"Hm? Truly? Nothing as majestic as my brethren am I. Quite the opposite, which is why I don man's skin. So beautiful." It looked down for a moment, running one hand along its arm. "My sisters and I envied your form, so we would mimic you as such. Although, no other would come to love as much you lowly beings as I." El then placed a feather light touch upon Raven's cheek, to which he offered little resistance. The truth of the Entelexeia weighed heavily on him.

How did he get here again? Ah yes, his weakness for the fairer sex, for one thing. He should have been more assertive about this woman. Not a woman. This shady thing. He should have been able to repel its pull. But then, he was only a man, wasn't he? And this, this was a member of an ancient race, whose powers ran far beyond his comprehension.

And he slept with it. He slept with a beast.

Who would believe him? Would he even have the guts to admit what he'd done, to anyone else?

Raven exhaled deeply and leaned back, palming his forehead. It was a wonder his blastia hadn't given out on him the entire time. There he was, sitting on the floor naked, with a 'man' holding him close like they were lovers conjoined at the hips. Far from it. There was not to mention that the other was naked, too, and specific body parts were very, uncomfortably near to touching. Who knew Entelexeia could be so touchy-feely?

"You are troubled," El whispered.

"Yeah well, why wouldn't I with the bombshell you kinda dropped on me here?" he said, chuckling sadly. "I thought you guys were above drama, bein' ancient and all."

"I do not comprehend. Hm, I should have remained female. Ignorance is bliss to your lot, yes? Yes, I should assume as much. You all and your… pre-established sexualities molded so strictly by inflexible and unintelligible societies."

"Ah… for someone, er, something so in love with humans, ya sure know how to lay it on thick with the bald-faced verbal abuse."

"It is meant with the utmost of bewildered love and tender criticism. And I see no reason to mince words."

"Yeah, you'd rather slice and dice _with_ 'em…"

"Have we not spoken enough? Come; let me ease your distress."

"Not with a di-"

"Yes, yes, you prefer the female persuasion. You know, you should expand your horizons. There is much joy to be had in many a thing, no matter the size, shape, or form. Or sex. Or race."

"I gotta get outta here." Raven got to his hands and knees and crawled past El. He didn't trust himself stay upright if he stood; his churning bowels surely wouldn't have allowed it. But, sure enough, it was a poor fashion of escape, for as soon as he reached the bed to start collecting his clothes, the Entelexeia came up behind him and draped itself over his backside.

The thing had the gall to chuckle when Raven bucked and froze in surprise, disgust and a random assortment of other things that made his already sick stomach twist in heavy knots. "Ah… uh, w-would you mind p-putting your junk away? I can feel it on my junk and, that… that's pretty ho-muh-sexual."

"Your aversion amuses me. So be it." The creature withdrew lazily, its fingers falling away in long delicate rakes across his back. Raven shuddered at the sensation, still disgusted and yet… pleased.

Did it matter what made an attempt to please him? So long as he enjoyed it in the long run? No. Preferences, biases, they existed for a reason. He had to admit, though... How much more he could get out of life, how much more he could live for if...

He was a total mess. This was all a mess. A horrible, horrible mess. He was in no position whatsoever to consider anything at all beyond his imminent escape.

"Now," a more feminine voice called to him, "I have adjusted myself to your liking. Might you relinquish yourself to me once more, sir?"

He bit his lip. Should he turn around, he would surely fall to the wiles of the female form again when that was the last thing he wanted right now. He wanted, needed a cell, that's right, someplace small, secluded, maybe even barred, so that he could have a moment to himself, clear his head, dream a little dream, feel fine and dandy again. Raven would be free of higher beings seducing him into their command. No way was he going to be someone else's pawn again, whether they were another Alexei or not.

Raven grabbed his pants from the foot of the bed, dressing himself in sloppy haste. He grumbled, whimpered, and cursed as he fiddled with buttons and folds, then snapped up his shirt and threw it over his shoulders. "Y'know, this has been fun—except it's not been fun—but I really haveta get outta here. I'm no match for your royal beastness, ya know? How does a mere old man stand up to an Entelexeia of all things? My poor heart couldn't take it."

"Excuses," it purred. "Look at me."

"Uh uh," Raven grunted, shaking his head like the rattle of a snake's tail. He bent down and groped about for his shoes, his eyes half-closed in case his company decided to force its way into view. "Time to swear off sex, at least for another decade. Didn't think it'd get me inta this much trouble."

"You can run, sir Raven, but escape is futile. I am not as short-lived as you humans; I have next to an eternity if I wanted to make your life and only your life a heaven or hell. Think about that."

"… so you WERE out to torture me," Raven said, donning his coat. "Metin' out your revenge. Heh… just my luck. And I didn't even do anythin'."

"Really, I am nothing without my sweet Khroma. Lost without my sage Belius, weak without my willful brothers Phaeroh and Gusios… even poor, whimsical Astal. One of 'you' must take their place, until you are little more than spirits as they are now. I would use you all to quell my loneliness."

"Holy hell."

The Entelexeia was mad and hypocritical from solitude, or rather the idea of it, the promise of it as one that refused evolution with the rest of the world. Any way one looked at it, it was walking with quite a few eggs short of a full basket.

"You are a loony," Raven uttered, cracking a bitter, lopsided grin. "This better not mark the beginning of a new adventure to stop ya from enslavin' the human race, y'know, just because yer lonely. Although, it wouldn't hurt for me to be a star at least once."

"That would be amusing, would it not? A grand chase across the face of our dear Terca Lumireis. Of course I would not let you all capture me so easily. You each must work your way into my arms." Raven sidestepped El before the limbs encroaching upon him closed their loop. He struggled not to look at the female shape hovering at his back. He'd had enough for one day, perhaps a lifetime.

"Oh dear. Ya talk big. Well, ya probably ARE big, being Entelexeia an' all that."

"Fancy a peek?"

"Don't think my body could take it."

"You might be right."

"I'm outta here. Here's hopin' we don't meet again."

Raven stopped to inhale the sun-warmed air of a Dahngrest morning outside the Crimson Stars before his mad dash to Union headquarters, up the steps, through the lobby, a side door and down the stairs to the jail, all without missing a single step. Because he was a voluntary frequenter, he'd had his own key, his cell specially picked and even furnished to make confinement a bit more comfortable. He let himself into the cell farthest in the rear, slammed the bars shut and dove face first at the cot against the wal, wallowing in its plumpness.

Suddenly, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to think all this away. He didn't want to think at all. Sleep. Sleep seemed like the best thing to do from here on out. If only his mind and body could shut down—not permanently, he was past death wishes, wasn't he?—and resign his consciousness to truest peace and quiet in the still of darkness. Just for a little while.

Alexei had been the only one to possess that sort of 'switch' to his being. With him gone, whatever happened to his heart was left to the whimsy of fate now rather than the iron fist of his not-so-fellow man. Now he was some semblance of normal. Although, heavens help him if someone managed to stumble upon that lost switch and toy with his life all over again.

Even that Entelexeia's threat of making his life a heaven or hell— and he was betting on hell, being an experienced pawn— seemed petty compared to that.

Then, a notion struck.

What if that thing knew more about his condition than it let on? Doubly damned would Raven be if that were the case. If it knew what Khroma knew what Alexei knew, about his heart and everything it entailed, his past, present, future. His blood ran cold again. He hated the cold.

"Damn it," he swore to the air. "I don't need this. I'm cursed, I know it. I shouldn't have expected to just start living again after Alexei was gone. There'll always be somebody there waiting to rule me. Damn it all…"

The meek whistle of air through the jail walls did little to soothe his fears and growing ire. At least it was something familiar.

"Wishin' you were here, Judy. Hell, I could even appreciate a swift jab from Rita. Estelle's sympathy. Or, or the pooch's knowing little stare. Dammit, I need the whole gang…"

Raven turned over towards the wall, tucking an arm under his head like a pillow. He blinked thoughtlessly at the stone blocks that made up the wall, and then closed his eyes.

Sleep. Real sleep, that's all he needed. All alone.

"Hope for the best, let time do the rest."

* * *

**_To Sixth:_**_ I bet you saw that Entelexeia thing coming from a mile away. Yeah well, El eats you, the end. No but seriously, um... I MIGHT make something out of this, like a multi-chapter thing. But maybe not. Lord knows I have the willpower of a rock and I loooove to disappoint (not really). No real muse, sorry. *sad face*_

_Also, I guess for the more... I have no word for it, but those kind of folks, you're welcome to help me refine this or anything else since I'm terrible at writing on my own, apparently. I know not the sweet touch of a beta. Things will sound awkward. Although, El as a character is supposed to sound formal out the ass, possibly to an awkward fault. Alright, ciao._


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